Defensive line flexes some muscle

Jevon Kearse can remember too many times last season when he and the rest of the Philadelphia Eagles' starting defensive line was worn down.

So Kearse, who made three Pro Bowl appearances in his first five NFL seasons with the Tennessee Titans but was rather ordinary in his first two season as an Eagle, didn't mind it Sunday when defensive coordinator Jim Johnson stuck with a plan to rotate the second-team defensive line onto the field in the season opener.

And the plan was easy to accept because it worked: The Eagles sacked Houston quarterback David Carr five times and limited the Texans to 70 rushing yards in 24-10 Philadelphia victory.

"If we do it [rotate lines] the whole year, we're going to be better," Kearse said. "As long as when the "1s' come out the "2s' go in and play at the same level, we'll keep doing it.

"If we can keep it up, we'll keep people healthy."

The second-team defensive line's effectiveness was evident on the stat sheet. Backup defensive end Trent Cole had two sacks and fellow backup Juqua Thomas had one. Kearse and strong safety Michael Lewis had one each.

"I felt a lot better out there," said Cole, a 2005 fifth-round pick who had five sacks as a rookie.

"It was great," Cole added. "We knew we had a rotation going, and we have [injured Jerome] McDougle coming back next week, so we should be even fresher."

The Eagles would obviously be hard-pressed to match the five-sack total Sunday when they host the New York Giants, and in any subsequent games.

But the sacks and harassments of Carr indicated the moves the Eagles made to strengthen their pass rush -- most notably signing former New Orleans Saints defensive end Darren Howard, and moving free safety Brian Dawkins into a linebacker role in passing situations -- should pay off. The moves came after the Eagles produced just 29 sacks last season; their lowest total since 1978.

"All Eagles fans [should] continue to pray for the health of that D-line," Dawkins said. "That type of game is going to happen more often than not with that rotation out there, so that makes our job [with pass coverage] easier. It gives Jim [Johnson] the option to not call the blitz. We don't have to blitz as much with those guys."

On Sunday, Kearse started at left defensive end, 2005 first-round pick Mike Patterson at left defensive tackle, veteran Darwin Walker at right defensive tackle and Howard at right defensive end.

The second team was Thomas and Cole at ends, with rookie first-round pick Brodrick Bunkley and rookie sixth-round pick LaJuan Ramsey inside.

From where Jeremiah Trotter was in the center of the action as the Eagles' middle linebacker, it looked like his teammates went at the Texans in waves.

"Normally we alternate a couple guys, but we were alternating all four," said Trotter, who had nine tackles, including six with the solo or primary hit. "It seemed like every other series they were calling for the second wave; and when you can keep those guys up front fresh like that you're going to get a lot of sacks, a lot of pressure on the quarterback, a lot of turnovers and we're going to be right where we want to be."

The only potential negative to the arrangement is the concern that, similar to a running back needing to get regular carries, the defensive linemen will not find a rhythm or maintain concentration.

Or will grow unhappy with reduced roles.

But for one Sunday at least, none of those issues became issues.

"It is different," said Kearse, who noted he had not been part of a similar rotation at any point in his football career. "If you don't make a play, you want to get back out there right away. But you know it'll be a couple of series until you get a chance."